Prep football preview: New stadium, big games
South Mecklenburg’s Sabres are coming home – finally.
For the first time in nearly two years, the Sabres will play a home football game Friday night.
And they’ll do it at their new stadium, which is part of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools building project that will replace the entire school eventually.
The Sabres will inaugurate their new stadium at 7 p.m. Friday against Community School of Davidson.
South Meck head football coach Joe Evans said this day couldn’t have come soon enough.
“It was tough last season,” said Evans, whose 2025 team played all their games at road stadiums. “The school and the community rallied to make it as good as possible for us, but there’s nothing quite like playing at home.”
The CMS renovation/replacement project forced all South Meck athletic teams to play their games on the road in the 2025-26 academic year. Work on the football stadium is mostly finished, although replacement of the other athletic facilities is not quite completed.
South Meck’s new stadium has a turf field, so Friday’s forecast rain won’t be an issue (lightning is another matter, of course). There is new seating, a new scoreboard, and an all-weather track surrounding the playing field.
The Sabres’ last football game on their campus was Nov. 8, 2024.
Despite the lack of a home field, Evans and South Meck finished 7-4 last season.
“That was a testimony to the kind of kids we have and the kind of support we all got,” he said.
Evans said the Sabres got to try out the field a few weeks ago.
“They were really excited, and I don’t blame them,” he said. “It seems like a really nice facility.”
Evans would like to open the stadium with a victory.
The Sabres fell 24-0 last week at Charlotte Catholic. Community School of Davidson, a charter school with about 450 students in grades 9-12 – about one-sixth the number of South Mecklenburg.
But the Spartans, coming off a 24-21 loss to North Stanly in their opener last week, can be a real handful for any opponent. The school has been a regular in the state playoffs and last year lost only 16-13 to that tough South Mecklenburg squad.
Senior quarterback Ty Sigler threw for more than 2,000 yards last season and was 12-of-16 for 187 yards last week.
Evans said the Sabres are a young team.
“We have a lot of guys moving up this year,” he said. “But they’ve been a crazy competitive bunch. There will be some adjustments, but they’ll really compete.”
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Here is a look at other top games in the area scheduled for Friday and Saturday:
Mecklenburg games
Ambassador Christian (1-0) vs. Grapevine (TX) Christian (0-1), at Dublin, Ireland, 3 pm – Preview goes here
Chambers (1-0) at Hopewell (1-0), 7 p.m. – Chambers QB Jamouri Nichols had a big season-opener, rushing for 161 yards. He and the Cougars piled up 43 points on perennial S.C. power Gray Collegiate. The Chambers defense will have to find a way of stopping Hopewell QB Antoine Jenkins, who passed for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns last week.
Mallard Creek (1-0) at Norfolk-VA Maury (0-0), 7 p.m. – Let’s talk about Maury first. The Commodores are three-time defending state champions in Virginia and are loaded again this season. QB Domo Everette leads an explosive Maury offense that has several FBS-level wide receivers. Coach Dyrri McCain is in his 10th season at Maury.
Mallard Creek’s defense came up big in the second half last week against Rolesville, with LB Isaiah Johnson recording three sacks.
One extra note: Maury has not beaten a team from North Carolina in more than 65 years (0-4 in that span). The Commodores lost their opener last season to Raleigh’s Cardinal Gibbons, then won 14 in a row.
Rolesville (0-1) at Providence Day (1-0), 7 p.m. – The visiting Rams, coming off last week’s loss to Mallard Creek, face another Charlotte powerhouse this week. Providence Day QB Cole Cater was nearly perfect last week, completing 17-of-21 passes for three touchdowns. One question mark: The ground game. The Chargers totaled less than 100 yards last week.
Rolesville’s offense is led by QB Joshua Person, but he and the Rams’ offense was held to less than 150 total yards last week. The Rams will need much more this time around.
Weddington (1-0) at Myers Park (0-1), 7 p.m. – You’ve got to empathize with first-year Myers Park head coach Duke Howell. For several years, as head coach at Cuthbertson, he had to deal with Weddington in conference play. Now, two weeks into his new job, he’s got to face the Warriors again.
Weddington opened with a 49-17 rout of Mooresville last week, and RB Anthony Barrino ran for touchdown of 76 and 66 yards. Myers Park, meanwhile, opened with a 49-13 loss to Providence Day. QB Ramir Watson made some early mistakes but seemed to settle down as the game progressed.
Other area games
A.L. Brown (1-0) at Concord (0-1), 7 p.m. – This is a renewal of North Carolina’s longest continuous rivalry, played annually since 1931. The rivalry actually dates back to the early 1920s. In recent years, though, this has been a one-sided rivalry. A.L. Brown has won 12 straight times and leads the overall series 41-38-4. The Wonders won 38-3 a year ago.
Shelby (1-0) at Crest (1-0), 7:30 p.m. – And here’s another big rivalry game, matching two of Cleveland County’s giants. Each team is a defending state champion, for starters. And each team is loaded with major-college talent. Shelby leads the series 29-22-1, but Crest has won four in a row, including 31-24 last season.
Saturday
Hough (1-0) vs. Cardinal Gibbons (1-0), at Bank of America Stadium, 8 p.m. – Two of North Carolina’s football giants square off in the nightcap of the Keep Pounding Classic. Two S.C. powers, Northwestern and Indian Land, meet at 4 p.m. in the opener.
Hough is coming off a 15-10 victory over Northwestern. Coach Deshaun Baker wasn’t happy with the Huskies’ offense, but the defense was stifling in shutting down Northwestern’s explosive attack.
Cardinal Gibbons opened with a 45-6 rout of perennial Greensboro power Dudley. Hough will have to stop Crusaders’ RB Truth Caesar, who broke loose for three touchdowns last week. Cardinal Gibbons also tends to play error-free football..
THE SCHEDULE
(all kickoffs at 7 p.m., unless otherwise noted)
Thursday’s scores
Mecklenburg nonconference
Ballantyne Ridge (0-1) at Marvin Ridge (1-0), 6 pm
Berry Academy (1-0) at Ashbrook (0-1), 6:30 pm
Bonnie Cone Academy (0-1) at South Davidson (1-0)
East Lincoln (1-0) at Providence (1-0)
Area nonconference
Bessemer City (0-1) at Hunter Huss (0-1)
Forest Hills (1-0) at Fairmont (1-0)
Forestview (0-1) at East Gaston (1-0)
Mount Pleasant (1-0) at Jesse Carson (1-0)
North Lincoln (1-0) at Lincolnton (1-0), 7:30 pm
South Stanly (0-1) at Piedmont (0-1)
Friday
Mecklenburg nonconference
Ambassador Christian (1-0) vs. Grapevine (TX) Christian (0-1), at Dublin, Ireland, 3 pm
Ardrey Kell (1-0) at Porter Ridge (0-1)
Buford-SC (0-1) at Charlotte Christian (0-1)
Butler (1-0) at Statesville (1-0)
Cabarrus Stallions (0-0) at Hickory Grove Christian (1-0)
Chambers (1-0) at Hopewell (1-0)
Charlotte Catholic (1-0) at Charlotte Country Day (0-1)
Christ the King (1-0) at Raleigh Grace Christian
Community School of Davidson (0-1) at South Mecklenburg (0-1)
Cox Mill (0-1) at Rocky River (0-1)
East Mecklenburg (0-1) at West Mecklenburg (0-1)
Garinger (1-0) at Harding (0-1)
Independence (0-1) at Corvian Community (1-0)
Mallard Creek (1-0) at Norfolk-VA Maury (0-0)
Monroe (1-0) at West Charlotte (0-1)
North Mecklenburg (1-0) at South Iredell (0-1)
Olympic (0-1) at Palisades (1-0)
Rolesville (0-1) at Providence Day (1-0)
South Point (1-0) at Charlotte Latin (1-0)
SouthLake Christian (0-1) at Raleigh Ravenscroft (0-1)
Weddington (1-0) at Myers Park (0-1)
Area nonconference
A.L. Brown (1-0) at Concord (0-1)
Albemarle (0-1) at Chase (1-0), 7:30 pm
Anson County (1-0) at Montgomery Central (0-1)
Bradford Prep (0-1) at Highland Tech (0-1)
Burns (0-1) at Kings Mountain (0-1), 7:30 pm
Cannon School (1-0) at Oceanside Collegiate-SC, 7:30 pm
Central Cabarrus (1-0) at Northwest Cabarrus (1-0)
Cherryville (1-0) at C.D. Owen (1-0)
College Prep & Leadership (0-1) at Mountain Island Charter (1-0)
Fred T. Foard (1-0) at East Burke (0-1), 7:30 pm
Hickory (0-1) at Alexander Central (1-0), 7:30 pm
Langtree Charter (1-0) at South Rowan (1-0)
Lincoln Charter (0-1) at West Lincoln (0-1), 7:30 pm
Maiden (0-1) at A.C. Reynolds (1-0)
Metrolina Christian (0-1) at High Point Christian (0-1)
Mooresville (0-1) at Sun Valley (0-1)
Mount Tabor (0-1) at Lake Norman (1-0)
North Gaston (0-1) at Stuart Cramer (1-0), 7:30 pm
Parkwood (1-0) at Cuthbertson (0-1)
Pine Lake Prep at East Rowan (1-0)
Polk County (0-1) at Newton-Conover (0-1, 7:30 pm
Salisbury (0-1) at North Rowan (0-1)
St. Stephens (0-1) at Bunker Hill (1-0), 7:30 pm
Shelby (1-0) at Crest (1-0), 7:30 pm
West Cabarrus (0-1) at Jay M. Robinson (1-0)
West Iredell (1-0) at North Iredell (0-1)
West Rowan (1-0) at Davie County (0-1)
West Stanly (0-1) at North Stanly (1-0)
Saturday
Keep Pounding Classic
(at Bank of America Stadium)
Indian Land-SC (1-0) vs. Northwestern-SC (0-1), 4 pm
Hough (1-0) vs. Cardinal Gibbons (1-0), 8 pm
Other games
Covenant Day (0-1) at North Wake Saints (1-0), 5:30 pm
OFF: Bandys, Hickory Ridge, Lake Norman Charter, Union Academy
